AIDS - subject's the same but ...

Warief Djajanto Basorie, Contributor, Jakarta

Indonesia, Riding the Paradox, Safe Sex and the Media in Southeast Asia
Nurul Agustina and Irwan JuliantoAIDS Society of the Philippines, July 2004
88 pp

The fact is that the condom is an effective means to prevent infection of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. But how has Indonesia's media reported on condom use?

A recent study focuses on how two Jakarta-based quality dailies, one nonpartisan and the other Islamic, report sensitive issues to their reading public in the world's largest nation with a Muslim majority population.

Kompas (circulation 500,000), arguably Jakarta's premier newspaper, readily reports condom use as a way to promote safe sex and minimize sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection. (p. 57)

On the other hand, Republika (circulation 130,000), a paper that advances Islamic values and is linked to the Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals Association (ICMI), is more circumspect if not conservative. It views the promotion of condom use as something that "violates the religious command to avoid adultery because condoms tend to encourage people to engage in extramarital sex." (p. 70)

Indonesia: Riding the Paradox, published in July 2004 to coincide with the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, explores how each newspaper reports on HIV/AIDS and related delicate issues of sexuality and safe sex. These issues include condom use, rape and sexual assault, prostitution and sex slavery, abortion, pedophilia and polygamy.

The book is based on a six-month-long study on how sex and sexuality were reported on in the two newspapers in 1997, 2000 and 2002. The first year was when Asia's monetary crisis shook the Indonesian economy. The second year represents the period when Indonesia developed a freer press following Soeharto's resignation in May 1998 after ruling for 32 years. The third year depicts the year when the country's economy began to improve.

The study was undertaken by two journalists, Nurul Agustina of Republika and Irwan Julianto of Kompas. Despite their perceived bias as the primary investigators, their findings provide an informative content analysis of how each paper deals with HIV/AIDS and related issues.

Their content reflects their respective editorial tenets. Kompas asserts humanism and empathy toward the unfortunate and the marginalized whereas Republika emphasizes the upholding of religious norms. Their differing perspectives is illustrated by the issue of extramarital sex; Republika maintains it is "forbidden by God" whereas Kompas underscores empathy toward young girls and women forced into prostitution. (p. 15)

The same subject gets very different treatment. For instance, an interesting distinction is in the reporting in September 2002 on the withdrawal, after protests from Islamic groups, from TV of a public service announcement (PSA) on the use of condoms for safe sex. The health ministry endorsed the PSA as part of the national movement to curb HIV infection.

Republika rejected the TV ad; quoting experts, the paper said promoting condoms instead of marital fidelity was the wrong way to address the HIV problem. (p. 40)

Meanwhile, Kompas, as an advocate of condom use to prevent HIV infection, tried to neutralize the controversy by running a Sept. 13, 2002, story with the headline Government still supports the condom campaign. (p. 58)

Inevitably, the PSA was modified: The message for safe sex through condom use is no longer delivered through a tune by the late musician Harry Roesli. The PSA now features an authority figure, in the person of moderate Muslim scholar and medical doctor Tarmizi Taher, an advocate of interfaith relations and a former minister of religious affairs.

In the message, Taher condemns zina (adultery) but favors use of condoms for "diehard" men to reduce the chances of spreading HIV to their wives and babies (p.59). The revised PSA has been aired as a late night spot on state-run TVRI with little if no objection.

On the reporting of HIV/AIDS per se, Republika avoids risk- prone discussion on sexuality and safe sex. For the newspaper, it seems safe sex could only mean sexual relations within a legally sanctioned relationship. Its editors would prefer to discuss sex education rather than condom use in the sex trade or by being very critical of pornography. (p. 78)

Riding the Paradox is one title in a seven-book series reviewing the content and quality of Southeast Asian media coverage on sexuality and safe sex. The series, published by the AIDS Society of the Philippines, cover a regional analysis and six country monographs; the others are Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The monograph on Indonesia ends with a recommendation for the holding of capability building forums to explore effective approaches for society to deal with sex issues and HIV/AIDS. As the book is addressed to both public stakeholders and the press, the authors could have cross-interviewed the relevant editors of Republika and Kompas to comment, if not confirm, the findings of the research.

Irwan could have interviewed Republika editors and Nurul talked with editors at Kompas on their considerations in covering AIDS. Such feedback section could help reporters and writers with an added perspective and tool on how to cover the AIDS story accurately, rationally and with more sensitivity.

The reviewer teaches journalism at the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute in Jakarta. He managed a recently concluded one-year workshop on AIDS reporting and can be reached at wariefdj@hotmail.com.